Louisiana becomes 12th state to ban balloon releases BATON ROUGE, Louisiana; GLASGOW, Scotland––Effective on August 1, 2026, intentionally releasing a balloon or planning the organized release of 12 or more balloons became illegal in Louisiana. Violations carry fines ranging from $500 up to $2,500. Act 196, amending the Louisiana littering law to include outdoor balloon […]
Paul Watson publicity stunt vs. Icelandic whaling so far gets little publicity
Eclipsed by solar eclipse, European Union negotiations, mink farm release, and even Reykjavik traffic REYKJAVIK, Iceland; PARIS, France––Paul Watson, 75, founder of the Paul Watson Foundation in 2022 after getting the boot from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society he founded in 1977, is counting on global publicity and outrage over the resumption of Icelandic whaling to […]
Icelandic “Ahab” Kristján Loftsson resumes vengeful quest to kill whales
Activists sank his battleships 40 years ago REYKJAVIK, Iceland––Kristján Loftsson, 84, chief executive of Hvalur, the last Icelandic whaling company, driven by an enduring thirst for vengeance against anti-whaling activists, on June 19, 2026 sent the last two whaling trawlers in Iceland out into the North Atlantic Ocean to kill a quota of as many as […]
Alan Cooper & John Pippin, M.D., represented the range of animal advocacy
Both Alan Cooper & John Pippin, M.D. were felled by long struggles with debilitating illness It would be difficult to imagine two animal advocates with less in common than Alan Cooper and John Pippin, M.D., except that both were veterans of more than 20 years in animal advocacy on a variety of fronts, and died […]
Haj 2026 ends with livestock slaughter down, killing dogs judicially decried
Blockade of the Strait of Hormuz stopped livestock shipments to seven nations. Islamabad High Court rules that indiscriminately killing street dogs contradicts Islamic law. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan––The 2026 Haj season, meaning the pilgrimage-to-Mecca season observed by the Islamic faithful, ended on May 30-31 with both good and bad news for animals. The bad news, as ever, […]
Some Nordic people rally to save one whale; others rush to kill hundreds
Timmy the stranded but rescued humpback whale lived after release for about ten days BERLIN, Germany; WASHINGTON D.C.; OSLO, Norway; REYKJAVIK, Iceland––Contrasting and conflicting Nordic attitudes toward whales may never before have been more starkly evident than during the six-week drama preceding the May 2, 2026 return to the North Sea of Timmy the formerly […]
Brigitte Bardot, 91, movie star for 20 years, animal advocate for 52 years
Brigitte Bardot: provocative on film, but even more provocative for animals, for more than twice as long PARIS, France––Brigitte Bardot, 91, a fashion model for four years, a film actress for 20 years, and a full-time animal advocate for the last 52 years of her life, died on December 28, 2025 of undisclosed causes at […]
Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson freed from Greenland jail & heading home
“We are happy and relieved that Paul Watson is now free.” NUUK, Greenland––Jailed in remote Nuuk, Greenland since July 21, 2024 by Denmark, acting on a 2010 Interpol warrant obtained by Japan, anti-whaling activist Paul Watson is heading home to France for Christmas with his wife and two sons, ages 3 and 8. “We are […]
Will Paul Watson be home for Christmas, or headed to Japan in chains?
Greenland court extends Paul Watson time in custody until December 18, 2024 NUUK, Greenland––“The court in Greenland has today decided that Paul Watson shall continue to be detained until December 18, 2024 in order to ensure his presence in connection with the decision on extradition,” a Danish police statement declared on December 2, 2024. The […]
Denmark again delays decision on extraditing Paul Watson to Japan
“Theater of the absurd” continues in a Greenland jail NUUK, Greenland––Perhaps the most obvious difference between the Paul Watson saga since his July 21, 2024 arrest in Nuuk, Greenland on a 15-year-old Japanese warrant and the 1949 Samuel Beckett play Waiting for Godot is that most performances of Waiting for Godot run only two to […]